Plan Beta
by forevermagik13
Summary: A collection of scenes that did not make it into the final cuts of "All the Pieces" or "Betwixt and Between." So, the other canon of my KH universe, if you will.
1. Dive into the Heart

**Author's Note: **So, I'm sure some of you may have noticed that I took down "All the Pieces Drafts." I figured it had served it's purpose and now was the time to just take it down and let the finished copy of AtP stand alone with no edits. However, I thought I would still be nice and post the few scenes that never took place in All the Pieces for whatever reason. This particular scene never happened because Kairi had her Dive after she and Namine separated.

This is what would have occurred if the Dive had taken place BEFORE Namine and Kairi made it to Castle Oblivion to separate. Because, I figured, the battle with Xigbar might have been big enough to trigger it. Then Namine just sort of took the scene and ran with it. She does that sometimes.

So, for those of you just stumbling in, this is an alter-canon to my KH canon, "All the Pieces". However, this scene is probably surely still interesting for those of you who haven't read AtP at all.

The idea was born when I was blogging about Kairi's Dive and I started thinking about how it would have happened if it had happened prior to her and Namine separating. (Which, doesn't really make much sense... because the sole reason as to why Kairi didn't have her Dive sooner is because Namine isn't a Keyblade Wielder in my unverse... but, you know... what if?)

So, yeah, enjoy. I've got three scenes of stuff from AtP to put up here, and I'll probably post stuff from Betwixt and Between if I end up with scenes that don't make the final cut.

Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney and I mean no copyright infringement by this story. All OC's mentioned are either the property of me (magik~) or my sister, (rar).

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><p>He had reloaded when she was Curing and started to send more bullets her way. She threw up Oathkeeper for protection. Most of the bullets hit Oathkeeper and bounced back right at Xigbar.<p>

_Nice! _Namine exclaimed.

_Thanks!_

The moment of rejoicing was short-lived. Xigbar shot off a super-bullet. It targeted right for Kairi. She closed her eyes and threw up Oathkeeper again as a shield.

Everything went black.

Kairi opened her eyes, but all she could see was darkness.

She was falling, very slowly. It was as if she were sinking in water rather than falling through the air. She maneuvered herself so that she could see whatever it was that she was falling (or sinking) _to_. But there was no clear image.

Nothing but darkness.

She tried to open her mouth and call for Sora or Riku, but no sound came.

She started to panic and thrashed about.

_Kairi! _Namine called out.

_Namine! What's going on?_

_You're having a Destati… hold on…_

_Hold on? What am I supposed to be holding onto?_

_Quit panicking for a second and let me think._

Kairi frowned. She did, however, make an effort to calm down since it wasn't doing either of them any good.

_I had wondered about this… _Namine said after a bit.

_What? _Kairi asked. _Care to elaborate?_

_I can't be here when you have your Dive into the Heart._

Kairi gasped as she felt Namine wrench herself away.

For a moment or two, the two girls fell together side-by-side in the seemingly never-ending darkness.

_I'll be waiting for you when you come back, _Namine said.

_Would you like to tell me what is going on here?_

_I can't, not really, I don't think… I don't think anyone is supposed to interfere with these things. _

With that, Namine stopped floating alongside Kairi. Kairi continued to float down. Namine stayed where she was, then she disappeared in a flash of light.

Kairi looked down to see where she was floating to. It looked like a stained-glass platform…

xx

Meanwhile, Namine found herself back in the Keyblade Graveyard. She flinched, unsure whether or not Xigbar's bullet was still going to hit her. It never came.

She took a second to properly look about. Everything had frozen. Kairi stood flinched behind Oathkeeper. Xigbar was shouting as he shot the bullet.

"Huh," Namine mused. "Well this is interesting."

She started wandering about, having nothing better to do. She had no way of killing any enemies. She could place her hand on Kairi, but her hand passed right through Xigbar when she tried to see if she could move him. She also had no use of magic.

"Well, nothing to do here but wait, I suppose."

She figured since she couldn't do anything else, she might as well get a scope on the battle as a whole. That way, when Kairi woke back up and time started moving again, she'd have some advantage.

Axel and Saix were frozen in action. Saix's claymore had been driven into the ground mere inches away from Axel. Axel looked like he was in the process of dodging away. His mouth was open as if he was throwing an insult or some nasty word at Saix. Or both. Saix's eyes glinted with malice and Namine wished she could do something to help Axel out.

"This is his fight though," she sighed.

She made her way over to where Riku and Sora had been fighting Xaldin and panicked for a second. There was no sight of either boy. She could see Xaldin, glaring at something with three of his lances poised to attack. She followed his gaze to a ball of light.

Sora was either going into or out of a Drive Form. That would explain the lack of Riku as well. As much as this made sense, she found herself oddly disappointed.

She merely had to look at Xehanort surrounded by so many Heartless and Unversed to decide that she didn't want to go over there.

Instead, she decided to figure out what should be done next in the battle. Sora would come out of the Drive Form fighting. Riku would probably yell at Sora before continuing to fight himself, but both boys seemed to be doing all right. And as bloody as Axel was, he looked like he was taking care of himself. He had already dodged the claymore.

Namine walked back over to Kairi, trying to figure out if this predicament would work itself out like the others would. Kairi had thrown up Oathkeeper as a shield against Xigbar's bullet. Namine frowned.

Oathkeeper wasn't there anymore. Rather, there was just a pulsing light that didn't particularly have a shape at all. On a hunch, Namine placed her hand on Kairi's shoulder, trying to see if she could see what Kairi was up to.

It worked. Well, she assumed it did. She was presented with the image of Destiny Islands. She could see Sora, Riku and…herself.

She pulled her hand away, shocked at the image of seeing herself staring back at her. Unfortunately, that gave her absolutely _no _information about the sudden lack of Oathkeeper. She couldn't even begin to wonder what would be in Kairi's hands when she woke back up—if there was anything in her hands at all.

The best thing she could do is throw up a dark corridor as soon as Kairi came back around. She should be able to do that. She tried forming a corridor right then, but it was no more use than trying to shoot the Fire at Xigbar that she'd tried earlier. She sighed in frustration.

She walked around the giant laser bullet, careful to stay out of its intended path, just in case. She would have maybe two seconds after Kairi came back to throw up that dark corridor and send the bullet…

Where?

She pondered this thought for a second before it hit her. Of course! She'd just do what Xigbar himself did. He would sent bullets through dark corridors to come at his opponents from all directions. Why not just send the bullet right back at him?

That would be amusing to see the look on his face when he saw that coming.

She then realized that she'd have to stand in between the bullet and Kairi in order for this to work. And, in that case, she might as well just be ready to form a corridor as soon as time started moving again. She'd already determined that she had about two seconds (maybe less) as soon as Kairi woke up to do so.

But, there was no telling how long she'd have to stand there and wait.

She wasn't too fond of waiting.

She'd done enough waiting already over the past year or so. Waiting and not being able to do anything about it. She was rather sick of it, to be honest.

She made her way back over to Kairi, still avoiding the bullet's path out of paranoia more than anything else and placed her hand back on Kairi's shoulder.

She saw a blue stained-glass platform.

_"The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes."_

She got the sensation that Kairi spun around quickly because everything blurred then focused in on a giant Darkside.

"Almost there, then," she murmured, taking her hand away.

She stood there for a moment, trying to place the voice that had spoken within Kairi's heart. It was familiar, yet oddly distant at the same time. She thought back, frowning as she did so. It was not a voice that she, herself, had heard, was it?

Exhausting her own memories, she picked through what she could of Kairi's. Well, rather, what she'd picked up from Kairi's memories and committed to her own memory. She could pick farther down when she was inside Kairi's heart (not that she did so often, she just knew she had the ability). However, currently, Kairi's heart was far away from here and Namine had no access to the memories within.

_"Give me a break, Kairi!"_

Namine's eyes widened.

"Sora!" she exclaimed.

Of course! That would make perfect sense! Kairi and Sora's hearts were very connected after everything that had happened over the past couple of years. It seemed only natural that it would be Sora's voice guiding Kairi through her Destati.

With a satisfied nod, Namine put her hand back on Kairi's shoulder. Not surprisingly, Kairi was still fighting the Darkside. However, Namine got the impression that the battle was almost over. She couldn't quite figure out how she knew this; but, there were a lot of things that she did know that she didn't quite know how she knew, so she didn't bother wondering.

She maneuvered so that she was in between Kairi and the bullet. It looked very menacing, even frozen mid-air. She made a face at it to make herself feel better.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a very bright glow of light. She spun around, trying to see what was going on. Kairi was glowing much like Oathkeeper had been doing earlier.

Speaking of Oathkeeper, the blur of light that had been in Kairi's hands moments before was beginning to take shape.

It was starting to look a lot like Destiny's Embrace.


	2. Sora, Riku and Namine

**Author's Note: **Hello again! This is part two of the scene that I started posting last night. It's also the end of the little scene. To my one wonderful Anonymous reviewer, Anon: Kairi's Dive in my canon takes place in AtP. I can't give you an exact chapter off the top of my head, however. As for Kairi's Dive in KH canon? Your guess is as good as mine! I hope soon!

Anyway, originally, this was supposed to be Namine fighting Xigbar. But then I realized that time would freeze because of Kairi's Dive. Only Namine would be awake through it. Thus, this was born. Namine decided that since she was already separate from Kairi, she might as well go see what Riku was up to. She has a mind of her own.

Anywho, enjoy!

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><p>The sound came back before everything else. (Which, in hindsight, didn't make much sense, since Light travelled faster than Sound, but Namine later just attributed this to the blinding light that was coming from Kairi interfering with her ability to see anything else.)<p>

"…Hate you." Namine heard Riku say.

"Are you _trying _to kill me?" She heard Axel shout.

Realizing a split-second too late, Namine spun back around, trying to form a dark corridor as she did.

However, it didn't matter. The bullet was already passing through her.

She turned her head to see Kairi's eyes fly open. The bullet made contact with Destiny's Embrace and Kairi, along with the bullet, disappeared.

The two of them were warped across the battlefield. Kairi battled the bullet away again and warped once more. This process repeated again.

"Hey!" Xigbar said. "It's Little Miss Memory!"

Namine frowned at him and then pointed casually at the bullet that was now aimed at him after Kairi's last batting.

He rolled his eyes and warped at the last second. The bullet flew aimlessly away. Xigbar reappeared and stuck his hands through two more dark corridors, laughing as he did so.

"Move, Kairi!" Namine shouted. She could figure that at least half of those bullets were intended for Kairi. If the other half happened to come at her, well, Xigbar would be in for quite the surprise when he realized that they'd all pass through her.

Kairi, who wasn't even surprised to see Namine out and about, did as she was told. Seconds later, Xigbar's hands, guns, and bullets came directly at where her head used to be.

"That was a close one," Namine murmured.

A shout from Sora caught her attention. It wasn't an angry shout, it wasn't a cocky shout.

It was a scared shout.

Sora wasn't in pain, but he was still fearful. Sora was near Riku. Xaldin showed no mercy.

Namine turned around just in time to hear Riku's strangled cry as Xaldin drove a lance through his hand.

"No!" Namine screamed. She formed a corridor and ran through it, because merely running wasn't fast enough.

She appeared beside Sora and watched as the tendrils of darkness began winding themselves around Riku. Riku writhed in pain.

"No…" Sora murmured. "Not after everything we've done to help!"

Namine stood frozen in shock, unsure of what to do. Unsure if there was anything she _could _do.

What Riku did next surprised them all. He reached over and with a small groan, he pulled the lance out of his hand.

"No!" he declared.

Namine gasped as she watched the tendrils begin to retreat.

For the first time, Sora looked over at her.

"Namine?" he asked.

She motioned for him to be quiet with a flick of her hand.

He probably would have argued if it wasn't for the fact that Riku started speaking again.

"I will not give into the darkness!" he exclaimed. "That is not who I am."

With that, he drove the lance that had previously been in his hand through Xaldin's stomach.

"That's for what you did to Sora earlier," he grunted.

Sora made a noise of agreement, then went over and slashed at Xaldin with his Keyblade. Xaldin collapsed to the ground, gone for good.

"That's for what you did to Riku," Sora said, his voice flat.

Meanwhile, Namine had run over to Riku.

"Well hello," he whispered hoarsely.

"Hi," she replied, putting her hand in the air. "Cure!"

Nothing happened.

"Seriously?" she exclaimed. "I can form a dark corridor, but I can't…"

"Curaga!" Sora shouted, cutting her off.

Riku grimaced and started to stand up, keeping his left hand close to his body. It was horribly bloody—the blood visible through the black glove, even. His fingers all hung limply. Namine wanted to help him stand but she couldn't. She wished Sora would help him stand, but he wouldn't. It was all very frustrating.

Sora did start to Cure Riku again, so she forgave him.

"Don't waste your magic," Riku said, his teeth gritted together. "It's not going to work on this. There's too much darkness."

"Then what…" Sora began.

Riku just shook his head. "I'll deal." He turned to Namine. "I see you came to join us."

"Yeah, well," Namine said, shrugging and looking down at her shoes. She was blushing for some reason and didn't want either of them to see. "Kairi's got a Keyblade and I figured…"  
>"Well of course Kairi's got a Keyblade…" Sora began slowly. Then Namine's meaning hit him.<p>

Both him and Riku looked over at Kairi, who was currently batting away more laser bullets with Destiny's Embrace.

"Cool!" Sora exclaimed, summoning Oathkeeper. He now had Oathkeeper and Oblivion in one hand and Bond of Flame in the other.

"Want to use one?" he asked, looking at Namine.

Namine sighed and stuck her hand through Oblivion.

"I'd love to, but I can't."

"Bummer."

He started to offer Bond of Flame out to Riku, but then he realized that Riku couldn't really hold a Keyblade in his left hand at the moment. Currently, he was leaning on Way to Dawn to support his weight.

"Right then. I'll wield three."

"Well, well, look at what we have here," came a voice that sent shivers down all three of their spines. Even Namine.

Xehanort had seen fit to join the battle. He hadn't even drawn his ethereal blades yet. He didn't look like he was going to, either. He was looking at Sora with a very interesting expression on his face. Sora growled and started working Bond of Flame into a spin again.

"I am _not _in the mood to deal with you," he spat.

Everyone else froze, watching Sora and Xehanort. Had the situation been different, Namine would have laughed at the fact that Axel was yanking on Saix's hair and Saix was in the process of punching Axel in the face.

"χ-blade!" Xehanort said with a grin, pointing at Sora.

"What?" Sora asked, confused.

"In time, it will make sense, but first…"

He summoned a ball of darkness and shot it right at Riku.

"No!" Namine growled, throwing herself in between the ball and Riku. She threw up a dark corridor, trying to send the ball of darkness somewhere else.

However, the sheer amount of darkness backfired at them both. Namine, though completely intangible, was thrown backwards. She tried to sit up but was too weak at the moment. Darkness began to well up around Riku.

He shouted as shapeless shadows began grabbing onto him, trying to pull him farther into the darkness. Riku tried to fight as best as he could, swinging his Keyblade wildly about.

Sora began chucking Keyblades at Xehanort. Xehanort tossed each one aside, only for Sora to summon them again and try all over again. All the while, Xehanort was controlling the darkness that was dragging Riku down.

"Enough!" Kairi shouted, suddenly in between Riku and Xehanort, breaking Xehanort's contact. She held her arms out like a shield.

Kairi's new proximity gave Namine the strength to get up. She put herself in between Xehanort and Riku alongside Kairi. Both of them glared at the man, though it was hard to tell who was glaring more.

Xehanort swore. Riku shook off the now weakening shadows. He blasted the more stubborn ones with light, the entire time fighting one-handed.

Xehanort threw another ball of darkness at Kairi and Namine. Knowing that throwing up a dark corridor would just backfire, Namine stood just as paralyzed as Kairi. She knew she could shove Kairi out of the way, but that would put Riku in danger again. Her heart was torn in two directions.

The word that came out of Sora's mouth as unintelligible. It was some combination of swearing and pure rage.

He threw himself into Kairi, pushing her out of the way of the blast. Even Namine staggered back from the force of him. Kairi hit the ground with a soft _thud_, screaming as Sora took the blow. Namine crouched down, extending her arm in a futile attempt to latch on to either one of them. But the darkness enveloped both Sora and Riku, spreading around them, hiding them from sight.

"Sora!" Kairi wailed.

_Riku_! Namine screamed internally.

Xehanort roared and threw yet another ball of darkness at the girls, not happy with either of them at that particular moment. Axel teleported over and took the brunt of the blast of darkness that Xehanort had sent their way.

Namine was then faced with a splitting headache. She grasped around and latched onto the only thing she could: Kairi's arm. The pain lessened and she folded back into her other half as they began to disappear as well.

Xehanort had thrown a dark corridor at them.

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><p>Yeah, so Riku was very much involved. Namine decided that she wanted to go help him. She would have, too, if the story had turned out this way. It wasn't really a secret that she liked him by this point. No, no one had officially mentioned it in the fic, but it was still very obvious.<p> 


	3. The Keyblade Masters

**Author's Note: **So, this is another AU scene. I had considered (pretty much from the beginning) the possibility of Sora not being able to summon his Keyblade after separating from Ven and Roxas, because the reason why he could wield in the first place was because of Ven being in Sora's heart. This thought came up during the conversations about dual-wielding that I had with rar, since she and I talk about plot for both of our stories all the time. So, yeah, we were talking about the possibility of Sora dual-wielding after separating with Ven and Roxas, (since he never actually received the Power on his own) and then I had the fleeting thought of "Can Sora even wield at all?" Of course, in the end, I decided that since Sora (as a Master) would have earned the right to wield as one of the Keyblade's chosen. They don't just choose anyone, you know.

I mean, yeah, Riku got it from Terra and Kairi accidentally got it from Aqua, but Sora was the one that got to wield the Keyblade in KH1 because Riku's heart wasn't strong enough at the time and Kairi...well, idk really about her. She lost her heart because of the darkness I guess. (Granted, some of this may kinda be retconned since KH1 canon can be put into question with stuff from the later games, but let's not get into that.) Anyway, but Sora can wield because Ven's in his heart and Roxas could wield because he's Sora's Nobody and kinda sorta has Ven in his heart, too. (Don't ask me why I didn't think about Roxas being able to wield in this setting... I didn't think of it at the time. I'm sure it would have something to do with Roxas' previous Nobody status and current part-Replica-ish status.)

Obviously, Sora was able to still summon his Keyblade because I went with the whole "he's a Master, he's earned his Keyblade" lore. However, this is the scene of what would have occurred if Sora had no longer been able to wield and could not summon his Keyblade when Xehanort showed up in Castle Oblivion. Because, of course, I had a contingency plan. And Riku was perfectly fine to go along with it. In fact, he'd probably have you believing that it was his idea all along.

Wow, I think my author's note is as long as the scene itself *facepalm* This is why I do blogs...

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><p><em>Right as Xehanort Shows Up<em>

Everyone rushed to the entrance hall. There was a flurry of summoning weapons. Axel had his chakrams (though they weren't on fire yet), Aqua had Master Eraqus' Master Keeper, Ven had Lost Memory. Riku had his Way to Dawn. Roxas summoned Oblivion, Xion re-summoned the Kingdom Key. Kairi re-summoned Destiny's Embrace.

Sora tried to summon his Keyblade—nothing. He tried again and again, but no Keyblade came to his hands.

He looked about him, trying to see if anyone else had any clue as to why he couldn't summon a Keyblade. Riku met his eye. Sora didn't even have to explain what was going on, his look of absolute terror told Riku all he needed to know.

Riku swore internally. He went over to Sora.  
>"Everyone else go, we'll be right there," he said.<p>

Namine and Kairi were the only two who even hesitated.

"Go!" Riku urged. "Xehanort won't wait."

Namine's lips drew into a thin line, but she knew what had to be done. She grabbed Kairi's wrist and led her to the entrance hall.

Riku held out his Keyblade to Sora. "Place your hand on it," he said.

Sora did so hesitantly.

_Let this work! _Riku pleaded.

"In your hand, take this Key," Riku recited, trying to remember the words Terra had told him all those years ago. "So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, its wielder you shall one day be. And you will find me, friend—no ocean contain you then. No more borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love."

"What was that?" Sora asked.

"Keyblade Inheritance, I guess," Riku said. "Terra did that with me when we were little. I guess you never had one. Try and summon your Keyblade."

Sora did so, exaggerating the motion, just in case. Oathkeeper materialized in his hand without any delay.

"Right, that was weird," Sora said.

"Let's not worry about it," Riku said. "We've got Xehanort to kill."

Sora grinned.


	4. Future Masters

**Author's Note: **So, I had intended way-back-when (like, back when Roxas and Xion were skipping rocks on Destiny Islands inside someone's (probably Sora's, though Namine was the one who met them there and she was in Kairi's. Don't think about it too much.) heart) for him (Roxas) to pull out the rock that she (Xion) had given him and they would go skip rocks again. However, I had already written the scene with Roxas and Xion on the dock at the end, and for some reason, I couldn't get the two scenes to fit together in a way that flowed. The scene that was sacrificed was this one, because the things that were said on the dock were important for Betwixt and Between. However, you can read the scene that COULD have happened if I was better at including things, here. It's hinted at in the final scene of All the Pieces with everyone around the Paopu tree, but I just couldn't fit the scene in in a way that flowed with everything else that was going on (which was a lot-I have that happen to me a lot.) And now, for risk of further redundancy, just read the scene.

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><p><em>By the Paopu Tree<em>

"Is that all you've got?" Xion asked, blocking another one of Roxas' attacks with little effort.

Roxas grinned and unleashed a rather complicated combo, utilizing a bit of light while he was at it. Xion was able to block almost all of the blows, but the last one sent her to the ground. She landed on her back, knocking all the air out of her.

Roxas looked down at her, a sheepish apologetic look on his face.

She laughed. "I asked for that."

A smile pulled at the corners of Roxas' mouth. He offered her his free hand to help her up. Xion grabbed it. However, Roxas did not succeed in pulling her up. Instead, she dragged him down to the ground beside her.

They both laughed.

Within mere moments they were both standing and attacking each other again, all in good fun.

"Now here's a question," Roxas said. "Can you knock me down?"

"I've already pulled you to the ground," Xion responded, blocking his attack.

Roxas spun around, parried her counterblow and slashed again. "But can you knock me down?"

"I'm not sure if that's entirely fair," Xion said, backing up and baring her Keyblade in a rather menacing manner. "You're bigger than me. And possibly stronger…"

"Isn't the purpose of this to test our strengths?" Roxas teased.

Xion frowned and launched herself at Roxas. She knocked him back with the resulting blow. He landed on his rear. Oblivion flew out of his hands and disappeared before it could even clatter to the ground.

"Ouch!" he shouted.

Xion covered her now-gaping mouth. Her eyes went wide.

"Roxas! I'm…"

"I sat on something…" Roxas said, shifting to see what he had landed on. There was nothing but sand and earth beneath him. Frowning, he stuck his hand into his back pocket. He pulled out a smooth stone. He raised his eyebrows.

"Is that…?" Xion asked.

"I think it is," Roxas replied.

"That all… that took place in our hearts, didn't it?" Xion asked. "How is it that that rock is in your pocket?"

"I wasn't even wearing these shorts!" Roxas exclaimed.

Xion burst out laughing.

"What?" Roxas asked.

"Of all the things to say," Xion said. "You pick the comment about your clothing. Even if you _were _wearing the same thing that you were that day deep down in your hearts, that doesn't explain how the rock materialized into the world outside of our hearts."

"You know what I think we should do?" Roxas asked, hardly acknowledging her musings.

"What?" she asked, banishing her Keyblade.

"Let's go skip rocks, like we promised," he replied, looking up at her with the biggest grin she had ever seen.

She grinned as well.

"Yes, let's."


	5. Forgotten Challenge

**Author's Note: **Hey, so for those of you who read my blog, you remember a very skeletal version of this scene. And by skeletal, I mean just dialogue. Well, as a little project for myself, (aka, the scene that I'm working in in BB is bothering me and I need to reread the whole thing again in an attempt to get a good enough conclusion out of the scene that could very easily be a short story in and of itself.) I decided to flesh out this little skeleton. I realize now just how much Namine actually talks in scenes like these. But hey, whatever. I'll go for it. Enjoy!

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><p>Kairi, Namine and Xion were sitting with Sora, Riku and Roxas on the play island, explaining their escapades in other universes. They had already explained the other Aerith's house with the other Cid, the other Leon and the other Yuffie. Namine had even done her best to explain Sora's Shadow. Currently, Namine was explaining the lynchpin that was holding the universes together.<p>

"So, in Castle Oblivion here, there was a replica of Riku."

"What?" Sora asked. "How do I not know this?"

"It's part of the memories that you don't really have access to anymore."

"Seriously? So who else knew about this?"

Xion and Riku both raised their hands. Xion a little timidly, Riku looked almost bored.

"Axel knows too," Xion put in.

"Okay, I understand Riku and Axel, but, no offense, how do _you _know?" Sora asked, sounding a tad exasperated.

Xion shrugged. "I hacked the Organization's computer database once."

Rather than let the conversation get derailed by that, Roxas decided it would be best if he got it back on track with what Namine was originally trying to explain.

"What happened to the replica?" he asked.

Riku shifted uncomfortably. "I…" he began.

"Not so fast," Namine interrupted. "He's not dead."

Riku frowned, completely taken aback. "What?" he asked, incredulous.

"All of us thought he was dead," Namine explained. "The Organization's database even says he is dead. However, when I was poking around in Sor—"

Kairi frowned.

Namine sighed. "In the Shadow's memories, I realized that the Riku in the parallel universe is the same Riku as the one that…" she frowned, trying to find the best way to explain it all. She looked Riku right in the eye. "He's your replica," she stated simply.

Riku blinked.

"How is that even possible?" he asked. "I didn't think _anyone _could sur…"

"Neither did I," Namine interrupted yet again. "But somehow, he did. Someone had to have caught him before he completely disappeared and transported him to that other universe."

"Cid and Leon suspect that this is why our universe and their universe are so connected," Kairi said, trying to give Namine a break from the constant questioning. "Because we've seen Joseph and they've seen us since then."

"And who knows how many other random people," Xion pointed out.

Riku frowned, deep in thought. "He probably hates me…" he muttered.

"Why would he?" Sora asked.

Both Riku and Namine shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, for starters," Namine said. "The Organization made me give him memories that I had to pull out of basically nowhere. Then they made me rewrite him so he'd think he was the real Riku. And every time I messed up I had to do it again. I got more practice with memories than I'd like just with _his _head. Larxene was brutal. And somewhere along those lines, he got it in his head that he…"

She paused and bit her lip. An awkward silence fell.

Namine shook her head as if to clear it. "That he had to protect me…" she continued. "And, in order to protect me, he had to destroy Sora. That's when I had to shatter his memories. I didn't expect him to survive _that_! Neither did Marluxia. But he did. He came flying out of a dark corridor to protect me from Marluxia. Then, after Sora, Donald and Goofy had destroyed Marluxia, the Riku Replica left, saying he would just deal with being a "fake"—as he called himself."

"Then he came after me," Riku said. "And we fought. I'm sure you can imagine the outcome."

Sora and Roxas winced.

"But," Riku continued, looking over at Namine. "He's alive now? Or still?"

Namine nodded. "From what I can tell from the Shadow's memories, he's alive and has even met up with a Namine that's not me. I saw them together."

"Were they happy?" Kairi asked.

"I couldn't tell," Namine said, shrugging. "The memory was all fuzzy. Anything that wasn't horribly seeped in darkness was fuzzy. It got worse once he realized I was poking around in his brain."

"Well, if he's happy, I'm happy for him," Riku said. "And then that's one less person that I actually killed…"

"You actually keep track of that sort of thing?" Sora asked.

Riku pointedly chose not to respond.

"So," Kairi said. "What all could you see from… the Shadow thing? You never really went into all that much detail."

Namine thought for a moment. _Way more about you than I _ever _would have wanted to see, _she mused to herself.

"Mostly darkness," she said out loud, even though there was a high chance that Kairi had heard her earlier thought. She would just pretend that Kairi hadn't, just in case. "Wretched stuff. The clearest things in his mind were the things that were darker. And I'm not even sure if what I was seeing was just his own memories. I think I could see memories of other people that he had seen and remembered."

"So he can see memories too?" Xion asked.

Namine shrugged. "It would seem so."

"What did you see?" Roxas asked. "Specific memories, if you don't mind my asking…"

Namine closed her eyes, remembering. "Blood and rain…" she said quietly. "Cloud being stabbed. An angry Sora. A warped picture of Kairi. Namine—but not me—looking like she had a really bad headache." Her eyes flew back open. "Everything is just blurry images and stuff. Memories are fickle things."

"This is coming from you," Riku said, raising an eyebrow.

Namine frowned at him.

He threw his arms up in defense.

"What?" he said. "It's true."

She grabbed her sketchbook and whacked him over the head with it.

Sora and Roxas burst out laughing, only to be silenced with a look from Namine. This caused Kairi and Xion to giggle, but they were certainly more discreet about it than Roxas and Sora had been.


	6. Gearing Up

__**Author's Note: **So I made an executive decision to post the school dance in Plan Beta since it's still canon in my story, but isn't plot-forwarding in the slightest. It does have character development, though. And that's fun. So, enjoy!

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><p>There was an abundance of women in Kairi's basement. Aerith, Tifa and Rinoa had come to join Kairi's mother in getting the three girls ready for the dance. Kairi's dad had insisted to the school that Kairi, Sora, Riku and their friends be allowed to attend the dance. Therefore, Kairi, Namine and Xion were all in need of dresses. Aerith had been so kind to let them pick some out. Aerith, Tifa and Rinoa had also volunteered themselves to helping them get ready.<p>

"You know," Aerith said as she combed through Kairi's hair. "I didn't entirely believe you when you said you had plenty of room here."

Kairi shrugged.

"We would have had to move the couches in the front room for there to be enough room to pull this off at your house, Aerith," Tifa said, pinning Namine's hair up in ringlets.

"I'm glad we did this here," Kairi's mom said, ironing the dress that Aerith had brought for Kairi. "I thought for sure I wasn't going to get this opportunity."

"Mom," Kairi said, laughing. "It's just a dance."

"That I'm still not sure I want to go to," Xion muttered, turning around as she looked at herself in the mirror.

"It'll be fun," Aerith insisted. "Stuff like this always is."

"Do you think I could wear my boots with this?" Xion asked.

"I think they'd match," Kairi replied.

"No, I don't care about them matching. I care about people asking suspicious questions about them."

"Isn't the goal of the boots to blend in?" Namine asked.

"Well, yes."

"Then I don't think you should worry about it," Namine replied.

"Rinoa," Xion said, turning to the woman. "Do you think you could go run to Riku's house and grab my boots?"

Rinoa stood up from the chair she was occupying. "Sure thing, where are they?"

"Oh, you don't have to do that," Kairi said. "I've got a pair in my room. Xion can wear those for the night."

"If you don't mind," Xion said.

"They're your boots anyway."

"I'll just go get those then," Rinoa said, smiling. "Where are they?"

"Go upstairs, my room's the first on the right. The boots are sitting just inside the closet. You shouldn't have any trouble finding them."

"All right then," Rinoa replied. "I'll be right back."

"There we go," Tifa declared, standing back from Namine. "All set!"

Namine got up gingerly and went over to the mirror. She admired the complicated up-do with little ringlets of curls escaping in an oddly organized manner.

"Where did you learn to do hair like this?" she asked.

"Aerith and I have had practice," Tifa said, gesturing between herself and Aerith with the brush. "I quite enjoy doing Aerith's hair."

"Yours was more fun to do when it was longer," Aerith said.

"It wasn't my fault Zack sent off that faulty Fira!"

"He _really _needs to let me help him with his aim," Aerith muttered, shaking her head.

"I'm growing it back out," Tifa said.

"Good," Aerith said. "I think Cloud likes it longer anyway."

Tifa flushed and looked down at her shoes.

Rinoa came back with the boots. Xion grabbed them eagerly and slid them on. She went back to look at the ensemble in the mirror.

"I think the boots complete the ensemble," she said, nodding her head.

She had picked out the only black dress that Aerith had. It was rather form-fitting with halter straps and absolutely no frill. It came down to just below her knees in the front, but closer to her ankles in the back. With the boots coming up as far as they did, it was impossible to see her legs. Most of her arms were covered by the black gloves she was wearing—they came up to past her elbows. She struck a pose in the mirror and nodded once more.

"At least I'll be comfortable," she said. "More or less. This dress allows for much more room than I would have originally thought."

"All of my dresses do," Aerith said, smiling.

She patted Kairi on the back.

"You're done," she said.

Kairi made to run a hand through her hair, but Aerith stopped her.

"Not so fast! You'll ruin it!"

Kairi sighed and went over to the mirror. Her hair was done up in wavy curls that came down just below her shoulders. Her bangs were styled so they lay lightly across her face, but didn't go in her eyes. She smiled.

"Thank you."

"No problem!" Aerith replied, smiling.

"I brought lemon bars!" came a new voice as she made her way down into the basement.

Riku's mother had seen fit to join them.

"What about Riku?" Namine asked.

"Oh, he's at Sora's house. He told me he didn't want my help, so I told him I was going to come over here and watch you get all dolled up. The look on his face!" She laughed. "Sora's mother will make sure he gets his tie on right—if he wears a tie."

Namine tucked a curl behind her ear, unsure of how to respond to that. Riku and a tie…

Xion walked over and grabbed a lemon bar off of the tray.

"Thank you," she said.

"Of course! Don't get it on your dress!"

Xion rolled her eyes. "I'm not Roxas, I can eat without spilling stuff everywhere."

"Are you referring to the part where Roxas dropped his ice cream?" Namine asked, taking her dress off of the hanger.

"How did you know?" Xion asked.

"Drew it last night. I should show it to you and see if I got the expression right. Kairi said it looked a bit like Sora when Riku beat him at swordplay. I want to see if that's accurate."

"Sure thing, show me later."

Namine nodded and made her way out of the room to change.

"There, I've finished ironing it," Kairi's mom declared, setting down the iron and pulling the dress off of the ironing board.

Kairi, who had just shoved a lemon bar in her mouth, made a face.

"Horrible timing, mother. Give me a second!"

"There's time!" her mother said. "There's time."

"May I have a lemon bar?" Aerith asked, going up to Riku's mom.

"Of course! I made them for the whole party! I had no idea there would be so much help."

"Well, Aerith donated the dresses," Tifa said, coming up to get a lemon bar as well. "But then she and I decided that we might be able to help with hair as well. Rinoa just came along."

"Well," Rinoa said, leaning back in her chair. "You said you wanted help with that one other thing…"

Aerith put a finger over her lips, motioning for Rinoa to stay quiet.

"Nothing about that just yet!" she said. "It's a surprise."

Rinoa smiled and shrugged.

"I have to ask," Xion said, sitting down next to Rinoa. "How do you sit with your wings?"

"Very carefully," Rinoa said, smiling.

Kairi finished her lemon bar and grabbed her dress from her mom, but only after she wiped her fingers on her shorts so she wouldn't get powdered sugar all over the dress. Then she left to go get changed. About that time, Namine came back. Namine walked slowly, holding up her skirt as she did. It still swished against the floor. The bodice was tight, but the skirt flared out like a classic ball gown. There were ruffles and a few sparkles. The dress was a dark sapphire color.

"You almost look a little lost in that," Xion commented.

Namine bit her lip.

"Nonsense!" Aerith said. "She looks wonderful."

"I will need a picture of Riku's face when he sees you," Riku's mother murmured. "Because it will be priceless."

"Do I look okay?" Namine asked quietly.

"Of course you do!" Kairi's mom insisted.

"You need a necklace," Riku's mom said, standing up. She dug in her pocket for something. "I was wondering if you'd need this…"

She pulled out a silver necklace with sapphires on it. She held it out to Namine, who cocked her head.

"This was my mother's," Riku's mother said quietly. "My father got it for her. You are welcome to wear it for the night."

Namine nodded and turned around so that Riku's mother could put the necklace on her. Then both of them made their way to the mirror to look.

"It matches perfectly," Namine said, shaking her head in disbelief. "How…?"

"Don't worry about it," Riku's mother replied with a smile. "I thought you might like blue. Looks like I was right."

Kairi came back into the room and went over to her mom so that her mom could tie the bodice in place. Kairi's dress was rather plain. It was lavender with spaghetti-straps. The bodice was tight, though the skirt flared out a little. However, it brought out both the color in her hair and her eyes. Her mother tied the bodice.

"Goodness, Namine!" Kairi exclaimed. "You look like more of a princess than me!"

Namine flushed bright red. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Nonsense, no!" Kairi said, walking over to her. "You're beautiful!"

"I'm not going to be stealing anyone's attention, am I?" Namine asked. "I don't even go to your school."

"Well, there might be a couple of girls who get jealous, but that's their problem, not yours," Kairi replied.

"She'll have all of Riku's attention," Xion said. "No doubt about it."

"Speaking of Riku's attention," Rinoa said. "The boys should be here soon."

Kairi, Namine and Xion all smiled.

"Oh, Kairi!" Kairi's mother exclaimed. "The tiara!"

"Mom!" Kairi complained. "No! I don't…"

It was too late, Kairi's mother had already sat Kairi down in a chair and was putting a silver tiara in her hair. Kairi frowned. She frowned even more when Aerith came over and fixed her curls around the tiara. Xion stifled her giggles. Namine was too busy trying to see up in the window to see if the boys were coming to really notice.

"They're here!" she declared, stepping off of the bench she'd been standing on.

"After you," Xion said, motioning to Kairi.

Kairi hiked up her skirt and made her way out of the basement. Xion marched behind her. Namine followed after the two of them.

"Do you mind if we stay down here for a bit longer?" Aerith said.

"Take your time," Kairi's mother said. "No rush."

She and Riku's mother made their way up the stairs as well.

Aerith nodded and turned to Tifa.

"Shall I do your hair?"

"Only if I get to do yours!"

Rinoa laughed. "Tifa, do you mind doing mine?"

Tifa smiled. "No, not at all!"

Kairi's father had answered the door and let Riku, Roxas and Sora in. Each of them looked a different level of awkward in their suit. However, the sense of awkwardness disappeared as soon as the girls got into the room.

Sora beamed like a fool and tried to straighten his bowtie. (He failed.)

Roxas smiled and made his way over to Xion, tossing his suit-coat over his shoulder because he didn't feel like wearing it at that moment.

Riku stood completely still as Namine walked into the room. He seemed captivated by her very motions.

Kairi straightened Sora's bowtie successfully and hugged him. He carefully put his arms around her, afraid he'd do something to damage the dress.

Xion let Roxas put an arm around her and she rested her head on his chest.

Namine watched as Riku nervously straightened his own straight tie and she smiled. She put a hand over her mouth to cover the smile.

"You look…" Riku began. He couldn't seem to finish his sentence and he whistled.

"Do I look okay?" Namine asked, repeating her question from earlier.

"You look, more than okay," Riku said, reaching out and fingering the necklace around her neck. He went on to trace her collarbone and she put her hand over his. He leaned down and whispered in her ear: "You look completely stunning."

"You kids all set?" Kairi's dad asked.

"Yes, sir!" Roxas replied.

"Be careful, now," Kairi's mother urged.

"Not that we're too terribly worried about you," Riku's mother added.

The six of them nodded, grinned, and made their way outside to head to the school.


	7. Escort to the Ball

**Author's Note:** Hey everybody! As usual, lately, I don't really have much to say... this is chapter two of the dance sequence. There is actually some dancing in this chapter... and a few surprises of who else happens to be at this dance. Heheh. I do have stuff to explain about it (now that I'm really thinking) but I'll take the time and do that in a blog instead of here... So, enjoy!

* * *

><p>As soon as they were out of eyesight of the house, Kairi yanked the tiara off of her head. She tousled her hair in an attempt to get it to what Aerith had had it at originally. Then she marched up to Namine and halted her.<p>

"Hold still," she said. She stood on her tip-toes and planted the tiara on Namine's head. She pulled a couple of pins out of her own hair and pinned the tiara down.

"There, it matches you much better."

Namine reached up and gently touched the tiara.

"Why?" she asked.

_Because! _Kairi insisted silently. _You deserve to be a princess for a night. _

_ What brought this on?_

_ You! You forget I can hear your thoughts sometimes. I've heard you, you were thinking all afternoon how you shouldn't be going to this, how you're not special, how you don't fit the part, how you're afraid that you'll say or do the wrong thing, how you feel like you don't belong. Well, quit worrying about it! The only people who you have to answer to are us. And, even then, none of us care what you look or act like. And, to top it all off, you are _beautiful _tonight, Namine! Not that you aren't beautiful all the time, but tonight you are exceptionally beautiful. And, tonight, you will also be a princess._

All while this was going on, Kairi's hands were on Namine's shoulders and the two girls had locked eyes as if they were sharing an audible conversation. Kairi's face was set in determination. A smile slowly grew on Namine's face, after the initial look of shock had worn off.

"What's going on?" Riku asked, looking at the two girls.

"Don't worry about it," Kairi said, patting Riku on the arm. "Just give Namine a hug and tell her where you think she belongs."

Riku furrowed his brows, but put an arm around Namine anyway.

"Where I think you belong?" he mused.

Namine looked up at him.

"Where do you think you should belong?" he asked.

Namine shrugged.

"Ah," Riku said, understanding. "Well, I don't know about you…" He hugged her closer. "But I think you belong with me."

Namine looked up at him, saw that he was being truthful and threw her arms around his neck. He hadn't exactly been expecting this reaction, but he went with it. He put his arms around her and held her there.

"Are you trying to make Namine stand out?" Sora asked Kairi, quietly so that Namine and Riku wouldn't hear. (Though, they were pretty occupied amongst each other anyway.)

Kairi shook her head. "I didn't want the tiara, and Namine could use a night where she's a special person."

Sora nodded. He slid his hand into hers.

"I think you look nice though, too," he said.

She smiled.

"Hey!" Xion called, looking back on the four of them. "Are you guys coming or not? Roxas and I have no clue where we're going."

Sora and Kairi laughed and ran to catch up to Roxas and Xion. Namine and Riku followed at a slower pace, but they were still coming.

xx

It had been a very long time since either Riku or Sora had been to the school. And even though Kairi had an entire year on them, even she felt that she had been away for a long time. She vaguely remembered starting this school year, but she hadn't gotten very far into it before other, more important, things had happened. So much had happened…

The auditorium was decorated with streamers and balloons; there were also congratulatory signs for all of those graduating.

"Something that'll never happen to us," Riku muttered, nudging Sora in the rib.

Sora laughed. "Yup."

"So, is this what a party looks like?" Xion whispered to Kairi.

"More or less," Kairi replied with a shrug.

"When's Selphie going to pounce on us?" Riku asked, scanning the auditorium. "It's her fault we're here anyway."

Kairi decided she wasn't going to mention the fact that if she hadn't pestered her dad about the whole thing, this wouldn't have happened. However, she honestly felt that she could stand up to Riku about it, given the fact that Namine had started to look like she was enjoying herself.

The boys had all escorted the girls in. Given the animated way in which Sora tended to talk, he and Kairi had since been merely standing near each other. Though, the way they were oriented around each other made it quite obvious that they were dates. Roxas and Xion had digressed to holding hands, each finding escorting incredibly awkward. Namine, however, had her arm linked pleasantly around Riku's and she was looking around the room with bright, expectant eyes.

"There she is," Sora said, pointing to the brown-haired girl. Selphie, dressed in a yellow sundress, was happily being spun around by a boy that they hardly recognized. Sora and Riku vaguely remembered going to school with him, but only Kairi could match a name to the face: Irvine.

"What kind of hat is that?" Roxas asked, nodding at Irvine.

"It's a Stetson," Riku said. "I'm not sure why he's wearing it."

"It's because he can get away with it," Kairi said. "We can't wear hats in class."

"You can't do much with those uniforms," Sora pointed out.

About then, Selphie took notice of them. She grinned and dragged Irvine over.

"You guys remember Irvine, don't you?"

"Uh…" Sora began.

Riku elbowed Sora and nodded.

"Now, Irvine, this is Namine, and Roxas, and Xion."

Roxas and Xion both nodded. Namine give a little wave.

Irvine tipped his hat at them.

"Where are Tidus and Wakka?" Sora asked.

Selphie pointed first to the drink table, where Wakka was flirting with a dark-haired girl with an equally dark dress made up of primarily belts. Then, Selphie pointed to the dance floor, where Tidus was dancing with a brown-haired girl wearing a purple and white dress.

"You guys should get out on the dance floor," Selphie said.

Irvine grabbed Selphie's hand.

"I like this song," he said. "Can I have this dance?"

Selphie's face lit up instantly and allowed herself to be taken back onto the dance floor.

Kairi turned to Sora.

"Shall we?" she asked.

"Kairi, you know I can't dance," Sora said, rather quietly.

"I know you can't dance," Riku said.

Sora sighed.

Kairi grabbed onto his hands. "Come on," she said. "It'll be fun!"

Sora then allowed himself to be dragged onto the dance floor.

"Do you want to dance?" Roxas asked, looking at Xion.

She shrugged. "Maybe later. Let's go get punch!"

"Okay!"

The two of them made their way to the refreshment's table.

Riku looked down at Namine.

"Do you want to dance?"

"I don't know how to."

"It's okay," he said. He spun her about. "I do."

Namine, slightly dizzy from the sudden spinning, straightened the tiara on her head and grinned. She nodded to him.

"Let's go then."

He smiled and escorted her onto the dance floor. He placed her right hand on his waist, took her left hand in his right, and put his left hand on the small of her back. He smiled down at her and she smiled right back.

"Just feel the music and go with it," he said.

She nodded.

Slowly, in time with the music, they began rocking back and forth, then Riku started moving them throughout the couples on the floor. Namine kept stepping on his feet.

"Sorry," she muttered after the third time.

Riku laughed it off, like he had done the other two times.

"Here's a thought," he said. "Put your feet on mine, I promise it won't hurt."

Namine gingerly put her feet on his.

"Sorry," she said. "It's just, I've never danced before."

Riku smiled. "I know."

He began dancing the complete waltz-step to the dance. They passed by Sora and Kairi, who were just in each other's arms, rocking back and forth. Namine reached out to poke Kairi and missed. She also almost fell in the process. Riku tightened his grip around her. She laughed nervously.

"Relax," he told her. "It's fine."

"How is it that you know how to dance so well?" she asked.

He laughed. "Haven't you heard what everyone else says about me? I do everything well."

Namine rolled her eyes. Riku smiled sheepishly.

xx

Meanwhile, Roxas and Xion were trying to decide which type of brownie they wanted. Out of the corner of her eye, Xion saw someone oddly familiar. No one else she knew had _that _spiky of hair.

"Cloud?" she asked.

Cloud instantly looked over. When he saw them, he grimaced.

"What's that look for?" Roxas asked.

Cloud gestured at the apron he was currently wearing.

"Tifa tried to get me to wear a hat…" He leaned in closer to them. "But, thankfully, my hair wouldn't let it stay on my head."

Roxas and Xion both laughed.

"Who all is here, then?" Xion asked.

"Oh, a whole bunch of us," Tifa said, coming up behind them with a replacement tray of hors d'oeuvres. "Kairi's dad called Aerith, saying that his original caterer flaked out. So, Aerith and I came up with a plan to fix that. Cid, Aerith and I were in the kitchen all of yesterday, practically. Cid, unfortunately, couldn't make it this evening. But, someone had to stay back in Hollow Bastion. So he's there with Merlin, Quistis and Zell. Cloud, Zack, Aerith, Rinoa, Leon and I are here."

"And she's made us wear these stupid aprons," Cloud muttered.

"Zack didn't complain," Tifa chided.

"Aerith told him he looked good in it," Cloud muttered. "And, for the record, Leon complained."

Tifa just shrugged.

"Well, if Heartless attack, the battle won't last very long," Xion mused. "Not with all of us here."

"This is Destiny Islands High," Cloud said. "Nothing's going to show up."

"Well, Cloud and I need to get back to work," Tifa said. "We'll be seeing you guys around!"

"Sure thing!" Xion said.

Roxas merely nodded, he had shoved a random ham-and-cheese bite into his mouth.

"Poor timing," Xion told him as Cloud and Tifa made their way back to wherever it was they were maintaining the food that wasn't already out on the refreshments table.

Roxas shrugged.

"Well," Xion said, looking out at the dance floor. "We could try dancing."

"Xion," Roxas said. "Neither of us know how to dance."

"Namine doesn't, and she and Riku are doing just fine."

"Yeah, well, obviously Riku knows how to dance."

"We could just do what Sora and Kairi are doing," Xion said. "That doesn't look too hard."

"Do you want to?"

Xion shrugged. "Maybe just a tad."

Roxas put the cracker he was holding in his mouth, dusted his hands off on his pants and offered a hand out to her.

"Let's give it a shot," he said. "We can afford to live a little."

She smiled and let him take her out onto the dance floor.

xx

Meanwhile, Sora and Kairi were still standing relatively in the middle of the dance floor. They weren't moving around like some of the other couples that knew how to dance. But, they were content.

"I didn't really want to go to this at first," Kairi said. "But I'm glad we could go."

Sora grinned and rubbed her back. "I'm glad we could go, too. I've missed stuff like this. Just, stuff where I'm not responsible for everyone's safety. Plus, I get to be with you."

Kairi grinned. "And I get to be with you!"

Sora grinned too. He leaned down and touched his nose to hers. They rubbed noses for a bit before kissing each other.

"I love you," Sora said.

"I love you too!" Kairi replied.


	8. Dance of the Daring

**Author's Note: **Yay! Stuff's getting real! I mean, the fluff was cool and all... but I can't have five chapters of fluff. Sorry guys.

* * *

><p>Rinoa frowned at the dance floor over the bowl of punch she was setting up.<p>

"What is it?" Squall asked. "I know that look."

"Their dancing is terrible," she said quietly. "I see two couples who know what they're doing—and one of those couples is Riku and Namine."

Squall laughed. "I don't know why it's bothering you. It's just a school dance."

"Well, yes. But when we were their age, we could dance properly."

"Says the girl whose dad put her through finishing lessons."

"You could dance."

"It was part of my military training."

Rinoa sighed.

"I want to show them how to dance," she muttered.

"Maybe later," Squall said. "Right now we have food to take care of."

"Not really," Rinoa said. "It's just the next rounds of stuff and I'm pretty sure Zack and Aerith are preparing it. Don't you think we have time for one song?"

Squall rolled his eyes and shook his head. "If we're going to be dancing to just one song, let's make it a good one, okay?"

"All right, I shall grant you that," she said with a smile.

She started to walk back towards the kitchen.

"Rinoa!" Squall called out.

"Yes?" she replied, turning around.

"Your wings are starting to show again."

She frowned. "Nuts."

She didn't say another word, she just darted into the kitchen faster. Squall followed after.

"Tifa," Rinoa said, leaning against the counter. "Are you going to be upset if I wear my duster sweater?"

Tifa frowned. "It's blue. And I was trying to get everyone in either black or white."

"Tifa, that's the one thing I've got bewitched enough to hide my wings all the time unless I'm casting magic."

"What does casting magic have to do with anything?" Zack asked, looking over from the cookie arrangement he was making.

"The wings _always _come out when there's magic involved, no exceptions," Rinoa explained. "However, if I wear the duster sweater, it'll conceal them for the evening so long as I'm not casting anything—which I don't see why I would be. And that's _certainly _better than this failing invisibility spell."

"Oh, is it not working again?" Aerith asked, coming into the kitchen.

Rinoa shook her head.

"Let her wear the sweater, Tifa," Aerith said. "It's not going to hurt anything. You let me wear white."

"Well, yes, but that's mainly because I can't really see you in black."

Aerith smiled as she shrugged. "It's not really my color. I'm half-tempted to let Xion keep that dress."

"Fine," Tifa said, looking at Rinoa. "It really doesn't matter, anyway, I suppose."

"Not particularly," Leon said, speaking for the first time since he'd entered the kitchen.

Everyone looked at him, well, everyone except Zack; he was arguing with some cookies.

"It's nice to look professional and all, but we're in a place where magic is hardly ever used. The Keyblades are barely even known about. We should really try to remain inconspicuous. And if the invisibility spell on Rinoa's wings isn't going to work for any extended period of time, we should just resort to other means of concealing them."

Tifa and Aerith both agreed to that. Rinoa summoned her blue duster sweater and threw it on. The only remaining trace of her wings was two little wing-like decorations on the back of the sweater. She fixed it so that the apron was still on top.

Cloud ducked his head into the kitchen.

"Would someone like to tell me why I'm the only one still working?"

"Hey!" Zack complained. "I'm working."

"You're arranging cookies."

"Semantics!"

Tifa and Aerith quickly busied themselves with whatever it was that they had been doing previously. Rinoa, who had just finished her last task, looked around for something else to do. Leon, who hadn't been told to do anything recently, also looked around for something to do. He didn't want Cloud to call him a slacker.

"Hey, lovebirds!" Zack said, grabbing both Rinoa and Leon's attention.

"Yes?" Rinoa asked.

"Fix up the next brownie platter, will you? I'm a little preoccupied with the cookies."

"Do you want some help with the cookies?" Leon asked.

"No, now it's personal," Zack said, his tongue sticking out in concentration.

Rinoa looked at Squall and the two of them shrugged. They made their way over to the tray full of brownies. Squall grabbed the platter that they needed to be arranged on and the two of them set to work.

They had nearly finished the brownie platter when a very distinctive song came on. She looked up at him as his eyes went wide.

"It's… our song," he said quietly.

She nodded.

"Go dance," Zack said. (He had at least moved on to arranging tofu-rolls as opposed to the same platter of cookies.) "I think I can handle stuff in here for a few minutes."

Rinoa and Squall didn't need to be told twice. Within seconds they were ditching their aprons and heading out onto the dance floor. Zack nodded and started to cook the tofu-rolls with Fire.

Many people had stopped dancing for this particular song. It was a slower song and many of the kids didn't really know how to dance to such music. Riku and Namine were still dancing—Namine had even progressed to doing her own footwork without stepping on Riku or having Riku step on her every other step. Selphie and Irvine were still dancing, as were Tidus and his date. Roxas and Xion were actually still awkwardly attempting to dance. They were determined, now.

With fluidity, Squall put his hand on Rinoa's waist and she put her hand on his shoulder. They linked hands and began waltzing about the auditorium to the song.

xx

"I wasn't aware that Leon could dance," Sora mused, looking at the couple.

Kairi turned around to look where Sora was looking.

"It honestly doesn't surprise me," she said. "And it _certainly _doesn't surprise me that Rinoa can."

Sora frowned, then shrugged, dismissing the issue. "Riku and Namine are still dancing."

"I get the feeling that we'll be dragging them out of here dancing," Kairi said. "From the sounds of things, Namine's enjoying herself. Therefore, Riku's enjoying himself. And, really, that's all you need to keep the two of them at something for hours."

Sora laughed. Then he asked: "Wait, from the _sound _of things? How can you hear Namine?"

"Oh, I can kind of hear her thoughts."

"Kind of… what?"

"Well, I'm not intentionally listening to what she's thinking. But, due to the fact that her happiness is rather extreme at the moment, I can kind of feel it. I'm tuning most of it out since I don't see Riku that way, to be completely honest."

Sora put an arm around her waist. "Well, I would hope not."

She grinned up at him. "I know who I like, Sora."

He grinned.

xx

"They are showing off!" Tifa declared, resting her hand on the table she was cleaning.

Cloud looked over at where she was staring (or rather, glaring). His eyes found Rinoa and Leon and he understood.

"Is it a problem that they are showing off?" Cloud asked.

"Well, not only are they not working like they should be, but they are also showing up every single student here!"

Cloud had the passing thought that Tifa needed to relax a tad. Or, maybe that was just because Zack had mentioned that she needed to earlier. However, he was beginning to see what Zack had been talking about.

He then had a very Zack-like idea and instantly wondered if he was going to regret going through with it. Though, he could very equally regret _not _going through with it.

He sighed. "Tifa?"

She didn't look up from the table she had gone back to scrubbing. "Yes, Cloud?"

"Would you like to dance?"

"Cloud, I don't see how that is going to solve any problems…" Tifa said slowly.

"Well, it might at least show Leon and Rinoa that they're not the only ones who can show off," Cloud replied with a shrug.

"Cloud, can you even dance?"

Cloud frowned at her. "Do you want to dance or not?"

Tifa very much wanted to dance—especially with Cloud. There was also a high likelihood that he wasn't going to ask again, so she should really stop arguing with him and just take him up on the offer.

She threw the towel down on the table. "Yes, Cloud, yes I do."

"All right then," Cloud said, offering out a hand. "Let's dance."

She took his hand and allowed him to lead her to the floor. He awkwardly put his hands around her waist and she had to re-guide one of them to her hand. He leaned in and whispered in her ear:

"You're going to have to help me a little," he whispered. "I really can't dance."

"I thought as much. But then why did you ask in the first place?"

"Because I knew you wanted to dance."

Tifa smiled and slowly began leading Cloud about. They weren't nearly as good a dancers as Leon and Rinoa, but they certainly looked like they were enjoying themselves.

"Sure!" Aerith shouted. "Just leave me and Zack here to do this all alone, no big deal!"

No one responded.

"We don't need you anyway!" Aerith continued.

"Are you seriously shouting at them?" Zack asked.

"No, not really," Aerith replied, turning back into the kitchen. "Leon and Rinoa's mere presence on the dance floor somehow got Cloud and Tifa to dance as well. Therefore, I'm not really angry."

"Wow, I'm wonder how Tifa convinced Cloud to get out there."

"Well, obviously she did, therefore, I'm happy for the two of them."

"I'm going to have to tease him about this later," Zack mused.

"Zack! Are you cooking the tofu with Fire?"

"Technically, it's Fira."

"Zack! The tofu doesn't have to be cooked at all!"

"Well you could've told me sooner!"

Aerith's face was torn between making an exasperated look and a pseudo-understanding one. She settled for just a sigh and went over to relieve Zack of tofu duties.

"Go make sure the punch bowl is filled," she told him. "Considering Rinoa's out there dancing."

"Oh sure, they all go get to dance and have fun, while I'm stuck here doing work."

"If I recall, _you _were the one who told Rinoa and Leon to go dance," Aerith said.

Zack shrugged and made his way out of the kitchen.

Only to poke his head right back in.

"So, can I have a dance with you later tonight?"

Aerith laughed.

"Of course so, Zack!"

Zack grinned and left to deal with the punch. Aerith, meanwhile, stared down at the burnt tofu, trying to decide what to do with it. It might not be salvageable.

She sighed and took the entire platter over to the trash bin. She dumped it out, smacking the platter against the bin to loosen up the most stubborn remnants. She just wouldn't tell Cid about that. Especially since it was mostly Zack's fault.

Apparently, he didn't know that tofu didn't need to be cooked when it was an appetizer. Not only that, but she was going to have to talk to him (again) about using magic for menial tasks like _cooking. _Fire and Fira really should be limited to the battlefield. It was a waste of materia energy otherwise.

She heard someone run back into the kitchen. There was a smack against the doorframe as said someone made an attempt to be in the kitchen, but only just. Aerith turned around to see Zack taking up the entire doorframe, a rather frantic look on his face.

"Are we out of punch, or something?" Aerith asked, frowning.

"We have a problem," Zack said.

"Yes?"

"Sephiroth's here."

Aerith very calmly put the platter on the nearby counter. She smoothed her hands on her skirts and swallowed. "If Sephiroth is here, then why isn't anyone…"

The screams of several girls reached the kitchen.

"Screaming," Aerith finished.

Zack turned around. "Oh, he had to draw his sword."

"What are you waiting for, then?" she asked, pulling out her staff. "Let's go!"


	9. Extreme Encounters

**Author's Note: **So I must apologize for the really bad transition from the last chapter into this one. Like... I should have planned that better, but I didn't. And by the time I realized that I could have done that transition better... well, the chapter was already posted. And the transition from this chapter into the last one in this sequence is also bad... but also unavoidable...

Anywho... I know I'm posting like, two chapters a day... but I'm trying to keep a timeline here and rar's rushing me. .

Not that you guys actually care, 'cause you get more chapters in a shorter amount of time...

Why am I still talking?

* * *

><p>"What are you waiting for, then?" she asked, pulling out her staff. "Let's go!"<p>

Zack didn't need to be told twice. He pulled out his sword and started into the auditorium.

"You know," he mused. "I'm kind of surprised he didn't hack the music to play his theme song."

"Would you focus on the real problem, please?" Aerith chided.

xx

_Moments Before_

"I smell darkness," Riku said, slowing down in his dancing.

Namine didn't keep up with him and she tripped over his feet.

"Sorry," he muttered. "But can't you sense it?"

She nodded.

"Best get out of the middle of the floor, then," Riku said, pulling her away.

xx

"Squall, do you ever get those bad feelings?"

"Where are you going with this?"

"I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen."

"Lovely, just what I didn't want to be doing with my evening. Are we talking Heartless-bad, or worse-than-Ultemecia-bad?"

"Somewhere in between. But certainly leaning towards Ultemecia."

He groaned.

"Well, then I'm pretty sure that we had better stop dancing and start looking for whatever it is that's going to be putting up a fight."

xx

Cloud knew that Sephiroth was there the minute the dark being appeared. He froze in his tracks, completely throwing Tifa off-balance.

"Cloud! What's…?"

"Sephiroth," Cloud growled, turning around.

Sure enough, the tall, silver-haired man was giving Cloud the cockiest of looks.

"Took me a while to find you, Cloud," he said. "It's hard to find you when you're bathed in so much light."

"Leave this place," Cloud commanded. "You have no business ravaging here."

Sephiroth grinned. "I don't?" He pulled out his sword, causing many people around to scream. "Why don't I give these children a taste of what reality is like? They could afford to lose some innocence. Besides, you're here."

"We're dancing!" Tifa shouted. "You have a weapon pulled."

Sephiroth laughed. "The question is, are you going to stop me?"  
>He whipped his sword to the side. He hadn't been expecting something for to be waiting for it on the other end.<p>

"If he doesn't, I sure will!" Sora said, glaring.

Sephiroth snorted, sprouted a wing and shot up, hovering near the top of the auditorium. He was met with several glaring faces now. Sora, Riku and Roxas has all drawn their blades. Zack had his sword, Aerith had her staff. Tifa was fastening on her gloves, similar to the way Rinoa was fastening on her blaster edge. Leon had yet to pull out his gunblade, but it was only a matter of time if Sephiroth was going to continue whacking his sword about. Cloud's fight or not, he wasn't going to stand for innocent bystanders getting hurt.

Cloud had yet to draw his sword. He just looked up at Sephiroth with an almost disappointed expression.

About then, Kairi's dad came barging into the room. Kairi's face fell.

"Great, just what we _don't _need," she muttered.

"Sir, I must ask you to leave, as Mayor of Destiny—"

His sentence was cut off as he was thrown backwards by an unforeseen force. That was all it took for Cloud to draw his sword.

"Never could let things go by peacefully, could you?" he muttered.

Kairi ran over to her dad, her heels making the only sound in the room as she crossed the hardwood floor. She knelt over him.

"You have to leave," she said. "He's not going to listen to you. Let us take care of this."

"But, I'm the mayor!" he hissed.

"That means nothing to him."

"Who is he?"

"Sephiroth. I've never fought him myself, but Sora has. You need to go. He has no qualms about who gets injured or not. Go, and try and get others out when you go."

Kairi's dad scrambled up and nodded.

"Be careful!"

"Of course! Sora's here to protect me."

Kairi's dad didn't look all that reassured, but he nodded anyway. As he started to leave, he gathered up some of the younger kids, shepherding them out. None of them returned.

"Now that that interruption is over with," Sephiroth said, rolling his eyes.

Cloud threw a Blizzaga at him. Sephiroth batted it aside with his sword, sending it at a group of students who had yet to move.

Suddenly, Rinoa was in front of them. She threw up a Protect. Her wings shot out, expanding the newly-formed shield. One of the girls fainted. Now, whether this was because of the Blizzaga or Rinoa's wings, no one could be quite sure. The Blizzaga was effectively dispersed. The only side-effect was Wakka's hair gaining some icicles in it.

"That's enough," Cloud said, leaping up to fight Sephiroth.

"I knew it wouldn't take all that long," Tifa muttered.

"What should we do?" Sora asked.

"Let's get everyone who can't fight out of here," Zack said. "Then it's just a matter of keeping Sephiroth from destroying the scenery."

"Generally speaking," Leon said. "This is Cloud's fight. But we should still try to stop collateral damage. Sephiroth has got eyes only for Cloud, but in no way does that mean he's going to be careful."

Most everyone in the auditorium was staring at Cloud and Sephiroth fighting in awe. The students of Destiny Islands High had never seen a fight of this magnitude.

"Hey, everyone!" Namine shouted over the crowd. "We need to get out of here!"

No one paid her any attention. She shouted again and yielded similar results.

"_Hey_!" Kairi shouted, drawing her Keyblade as she did so.

_That _turned quite a few eyes.

"Listen to Namine!" Kairi said. "You can't stay in here, unless you _want _to lose a limb. So listen to the girl in the tiara and get _out of here!_"

"I didn't know we had crowned court yet," one girl whispered.

"Follow me," Namine said, gesturing to the door.

Most people did. Aerith was able to get another group. Kairi another. And Sora another.

Tidus, Wakka and Selphie were the only ones who actually attended Destiny Islands High who remained. Everyone else had a weapon of some sort (even if that weapon included control of memories).

"You guys need to leave," Riku said.

"We want to help," Selphie said.

"Even though the guy with the giant sword's already pretty outnumbered as it is," Tidus added, looking around at the eleven other people in the room (not including Cloud, who was parrying Sephiroth's giant sword with a rather large one of his own.)

"Remember how you three took me on and lost?" Riku said.

"Yeah."

"Sephiroth could take on just me and win."

That made their eyes widen.

"Now go, before you get hurt. I don't want that on my conscience."

They ran for it.

Riku gave a satisfied nod and turned around to look at Cloud and Sephiroth's fight.

xx

"How many times has Cloud fought Sephiroth?" Aerith asked, coming up to Tifa.

"More than I can count," Tifa replied sadly.

"Generally, what's the outcome?"

"Sephiroth usually escapes with barely a scratch. Cloud comes out with anything from a couple of scratches to a major Curing job."

Aerith sighed. "I thought as much. Is Sephiroth getting stronger?"

"I hope not. I don't want to lose Cloud to the darkness."

Aerith patted Tifa on the back. "None of us do."

"How do you think he found us here?" Zack said. "Or does Sephiroth always just know where Cloud is?"

"Sometimes he's waiting for us," Tifa said. "Sometimes he just shows up. It's a wonder he hasn't appeared in Hollow Bastion yet, actually. Perhaps he was just biding his time. He said that it took him a bit to find us here because we're in a rather remote and bright place."

"Which makes sense," Aerith said.

Tifa sighed. "Though, I'd almost rather he come to Hollow Bastion. We probably could have handled him better there."

"You don't have to say that again," Zack muttered, leaning casually against the Buster Sword.

"So, here's where we wait it out?" Aerith asked.

Tifa nodded.

"I think we should help him," Zack said.

"You just want to fight," Aerith pointed out.

Zack shrugged. "Heartless are easy kills. I haven't fought anything big in a while."

"Why don't you suppose Cloud lets us help him?" Sora asked.

"Part of it is that he doesn't want us to get hurt," Tifa said. "The rest of it is he wants to prove he can do it himself without his friends helping."

"What he needs to realize is that he can't do everything alone," Aerith murmured.

xx

Sephiroth's sword hit a light fixture, causing it to come crashing down. Xion and Kairi had to leap out of the way.

"That was a close one," Xion muttered, frowning.

"My dad is going to have a fit if this auditorium gets ruined," Kairi groaned.

"Give me a Keyhole or some Heartless and I'll take care of it," Xion said brandishing her Keyblade. "Random household repairs are beyond me."

xx

"Got the itch to do something?" Roxas asked, walking up to Sora.

"Yup."

"I've never been good at sitting by and waiting," Roxas said. "Not as bad as Axel, but still though…"

"Random question, but where _is _Axel?"

"Taking the night off. Though he'll be pretty peeved to find out that he missed out on a fight—even if Cloud's the only one fighting."

xx

The sounds of clanging swords continued to fill the air. Cloud and Sephiroth didn't seem to be showing signs of letting up. Neither seemed to be injured yet, either. This particular match appeared to be even.

Sephiroth hadn't even landed once yet. Cloud continually had to leap back up to fight him. Granted, this didn't seem to be too much of a problem for Cloud, though he was showing a few signs of fatigue.

"I'm surprised there haven't been all that many insults," Tifa mused. "Usually they've thrown a couple dozen by now."

Sephiroth's sword hit another light fixture, causing it to fall as well. It nearly hit Namine this time. Riku growled.

"Hey!" Namine shouted. "Watch it!" She turned to Riku. "Can I borrow this?"

He looked down at his Keyblade and raised an eyebrow. However, he did not object as he handed it to her.

With a scowl of determination, Namine aimed Riku's Keyblade at Sephiroth and shot off a beam of light. It clipped him right in the wing.

"Erm, props," Riku said, looking at her.

Sephiroth glared down at her. "I wasn't aware that Cloud had little girls fighting for him." He laughed.

"Watch who you're calling little," Namine glowered. "And quit it with the light fixtures. I know quite a few people who will be very upset if you knock all of them down."

"Shall we take this outside, then?" Sephiroth asked.

"You could just leave," Cloud suggested, glaring.

"That would be too easy," Sephiroth said. "Besides, I will never stop. Not until my job is complete."

"I have a new idea," Rinoa said, flying up to stare Sephiroth in the face. "Come bother us some other time, when there aren't innocents around to be hurt."

"I would say 'make me,' but I think that's a little beneath my standards, don't you agree, Cloud?"

"Why ask me?" Cloud asked.

"I will make you," Rinoa said, her face set in a glare. She pulled out a feather and tossed it up into the air. Her eyes glowed white and a pillar of light grew around Sephiroth.

"What? What is this magic!"

"Sorceress magic," Rinoa said. "Something you'd never understand."

The white light grew brighter and Sephiroth disappeared.


	10. Let's Dance!

**Author's Note:** So... last chapter of the dance sequence. Yay for wrapping things up now! After this, I'm gonna start posting in Betwixt and Between again. I would say I'd post regularly... except for the fact that I can't promise that at the moment. My goal by Wednesday is to have two more chapters up... (that's a goal... not a promise.) I'm trying to stick to the timeline that rar's trying to keep. I can't explain the time thing... you'll know it when you see it on her end. But enough about the stupidtimeline... onto reading!

* * *

><p>"Rinoa," Cloud said, looking up at her. "You didn't have to."<p>

"I'm tired of standing by and watching. He can come bother you elsewhere. _Or _you can agree to let us help."

"I don't want anyone else getting hurt because of my darkness."

Tifa walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You know, if you let us help you, we might be able to make Sephiroth go away."

"How did he even find me here?" Cloud murmured. "He shouldn't be able to see in so much light."

"Even given the amount of light in this area," Rinoa said. "There are also a lot of fighters—and that's _bound _to attract attention."

Rinoa folded her wings and slowly fell to the ground. Her eyes hadn't left Cloud since Sephiroth had disappeared. It was as if she was trying to get him to realize something.

"Does that mean there are too many fighters here?" Namine asked quietly, still holding Riku's Keyblade, which didn't seem to shock anyone all that much. Only Leon gave a raised eyebrow.

"Perhaps," Aerith said. "But Destiny Islands isn't a target for Heartless because the Keyhole's long-since been sealed. You're more likely to see random Nobodies, or enemies such as Sephiroth who have enough mind-power to realize who they are after."

"What about Hollow Bastion, though?" Tifa asked.

"I think Hollow Bastion has become an interesting paradox," Rinoa said. "There was a huge expulsion of darkness so we had more people stay around and help to take care of it."

"However," Leon continued. "Now we may have gotten to the point where due to the sheer amount of fighters we have there, the darkness is just going to keep fighting back."

"I can leave," Zack suggested.

"No!" Aerith cried.

Surprisingly, Tifa and Cloud had echoed her. Zack just shrugged.

"Hollow Bastion should sort itself out soon enough," Cloud said. "It's just a matter of me keeping Sephiroth from doing any more damage."

"If you would let us help…" Zack started, but Cloud silenced him with a look. Then Cloud looked at Rinoa.

"Is there any particular reason as to why you're giving me that look?" he asked.

"I just want you to realize that it's okay to have help with your battles," Rinoa said. "I mean, can _anyone _here say that they can fight _everything _on their own?"

Sora looked at Riku, who promptly frowned back at him.

"If you're worried about us getting hurt," Tifa said. "Fighting monsters is nothing new to any of us."

"Is it a matter of pride?" Aerith asked.

Cloud looked down at the floor.

"It's his darkness," Riku said quietly. "He feels that he should be the one to take care of it."

Cloud looked puzzledly at Riku, unsure of why Riku knew this to be true.

"However," Riku said, crossing his arms over his chest. "It is nice to have friends by your side to help you remember your light."

Namine slid her hand into Riku's. He smiled, squeezed her hand, and his Keyblade disappeared. She raised an eyebrow at her now empty hand.

"There's _really _no need to have it out," he whispered.

She shrugged.

"That was a nice shot against Sephiroth," Sora said, looking at her. "He really didn't look like he was expecting that."

"I was just tired of him dropping light fixtures on us," Namine replied shrugging.

The look on Riku's face was rather indescribable. It was the oddest mixture of pride, affection, and still trying to maintain a level of cool. (Because Sora was standing right there.)

"Speaking of light fixtures," Kairi said, frowning. "My dad's not going to be happy about this."

"Well, in light of everything that _could _have happened," Leon said. "This is rather mild."

"And the lights didn't actually hit any of us," Xion said. "We _did _dodge them."

"If it _had _hit Namine, Sephiroth would have had more injuries than just a light attack to the wing," Riku muttered, cracking his knuckles.

"Oh please, if it had hit Kairi, I would have been all over attacking Sephiroth!" Sora butted in. "I've fought him before."

Kairi and Namine exchanged glances, and then rolled their eyes.

Riku was about ready to argue back when Cloud held up a hand.

"Enough," he said. "It doesn't matter anymore. Someone should try and see if everyone else is okay. That and we need to figure out how to go about repairing the damage made to the lights. Someone should clean up the food. Oh, and someone should _probably _try to explain why a guy with a giant sword showed up and we had to fight him off."

"Tifa," Aerith said. "Do you and Kairi want to come with me to see if there are any injuries to take care of?"

"Sure thing," Tifa said.

"Yeah, sure," Kairi said.

The three of them headed for the door.

"Cloud, Leon, let's make some calls about the lights," Zack said.

Cloud and Leon nodded.

"Namine and Xion, want to help me with the food?" Rinoa asked.

"Sure."

"Why not?"

"I guess that leaves us with explaining Sephiroth," Sora said, looking between Riku and Roxas. "Which we should _probably _do to Kairi's dad."

"Oh joy," Riku said.

"Just what I was looking forward to," Roxas grumbled.

xx

However, Aerith, Kairi and Tifa hadn't even gotten out of the auditorium yet when Selphie and a couple other girls had asked if it was okay to come back and continue the dance.

"Well, I suppose so long as no one's hurt," Aerith said. "How's the food?" she called back to Rinoa.

"Food's intact," Rinoa said. "Though, we did lose the big punch bowl."

"Nuts, that was my favorite one," Aerith muttered.

"So, can we continue the dance?" Selphie asked.

"Sure, just let Zack and Cloud get the broken light fixtures out of the way," Aerith said, looking pointedly at Zack and Cloud.

Zack, who was currently on the phone to someone, had to be nudged by Cloud just so he'd look at Aerith.

"What?" he asked.

"She wants us to clean," Cloud said.

"What? Why?"

"Because the little girls want to dance."

Zack rolled his eyes. "Are we really going to listen to a bunch of little schoolgirls?"

"I'm actually wary of them," Cloud said quietly. "I can't hit them with my sword."

"Point taken. Let's just Blizzara the fixtures and shift them to the edges."

"Okay. But if Aerith yells at us for misuse of materia, I'm blaming you."

Zack shrugged. "Whatever."

The two of them started sweeping up the broken lights. As soon as that was taken care of, Aerith let the students who had stuck around back into the auditorium to finish their evening of dancing and bliss. Aerith was about ready to head back into the kitchen when Zack caught up with her.

"Enough cooking and preparing for the night. The food that's out is good enough, don't you think? Let's dance."

"But, Zack, there's punch to be…"

Zack put a finger over her lips. "Just dance."

Aerith consented, letting him put his arms around her and lead her onto the floor.

xx

"Would someone like to explain to me what just happened?" Kairi's dad asked, walking into the auditorium.

"I should take care of this," Cloud said.

"I'll help," Kairi said. Cloud didn't object.

The two of them went off to placate Kairi's father.

xx

"Sora," Tifa said. "Will you help me with cleaning up the spilled punch?"

"Yes'm," Sora said with a salute.

"You don't have to salute."

Sora shrugged, then followed her to the food table.

xx

"Where were we?" Riku asked, looking at Namine.

"Attacking Sephiroth," she replied.

He grinned. "No, before that."

"Oh, I believe we were dancing."

"Shall we continue to dance?"

"I would like that."

Riku grinned and they went back to their dancing.

xx

"We are going to be dragging them out of here dancing," Xion said, looking at them.

"Well, would you like to dance some more?" Roxas asked.

Xion's eyes lit up. "You mean, you're not put off by my atrocious dancing skills?"

Roxas shook his head. "I don't think either of us are that good. Not _nearly _as good as Riku and Namine, that's for sure. But I'm having fun. So, if you're having fun dancing, and I'm having fun dancing…then, well, we should dance."

Xion laughed. "Sure!"

Roxas grabbed her hand and led her out to the middle of the floor. On the way, Xion tripped over her skirt as it wrapped too far into the front. She caught herself and didn't actually go down. She laughed.

"I am _so _not programmed for this. Fighting enemies, I can do. Dancing, not a chance."

Roxas laughed.

xx

"Well, I guess there's no point in hiding the wings now," Rinoa mused, shaking them out.

"Nope," Leon said. "Not since everyone's seen them. I suppose you _could _have let someone else handle the Protect spell."

She shrugged. "I was closest. Shall we dance some more? Ours _was _interrupted."

He laughed. "Sure, why not?"

xx

"I'm glad you came back," Aerith said, looking up at Zack.

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"Back, to spend time with us. Regardless of how many people crash at my place in Hollow Bastion, it can get lonely without you."

Zack grinned. "Well, it's good to be back. I just hope next time I can get a stab at Sephiroth!"

"Is that all you came back for, was to fight?"

"Well, Cloud said Hollow Bastion needed some help. And Tifa had expressed a concern that maybe I could help Cloud with his darkness."

Aerith's face fell.

"What is it?"

"Well, you're basically saying you're here for the fight. Isn't there _any _other reason you're back?"

Zack looked Aerith right in the eye. "Do you want me to say that I came back for you?"

Aerith pursed her lips. "Only if you mean it."

"I came back for you," he whispered.

Her eyes lit up and she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him closer. He grinned.

xx

"Sir, I can assure you that he won't be back here," Cloud was explaining. "He really only comes after me."

"Then what do you suppose he's doing when he's not going after you?" Kairi's dad asked.

Cloud sighed. "I can't say for sure."

"Then how do you know he won't come back here?"

"If he comes back here when I'm not here," Cloud said. "Then I am sure that Kairi and her friends can take care of him. They've certainly taken on things of his caliber and survived."

"If you're talking about Xehanort, he's dead. Why isn't Sephiroth dead?"

"Because Sephiroth has a habit of leaving before the fight is finished," Cloud muttered.

"Kairi, what do you have to say about all of this?" Kairi's dad asked, looking at her.

"I don't think Sephiroth is anything we need to worry about. _If, _and this is a big if, he shows up when Cloud's not here, I know we can put up a fight and he'll leave before he causes too much damage."

"Could you…" Kairi's dad began.

"It's not our job to finish him," Kairi said, shaking her head. "That much I know."

Cloud looked at her, almost thanking her.

"Trust me though, Dad," Kairi said. "He's not anything to worry about."

He sighed. "Very well."

xx

"Thank you for helping me, Sora," Tifa said as they finished up the last of the mopping of the spilled punch. "This job goes a lot faster with another set of hands."

"Oh, no big deal," Sora said, shrugging. "Kairi's explaining Sephiroth to her father. I've got nothing else to do for the moment."

Tifa laughed. "Well, it looks like they're about done."

Sora perked up. "Awesome! Would you mind if I went back and spent some more time with Kairi? She really seems to enjoy dancing."

Tifa laughed. "Go on, have some fun. This is your dance, after all."

Sora shrugged. "Well, sorta, I really don't even go here anymore. But hey, I'll enjoy it."

As he said this, he was already walking over to where Kairi was standing.

Tifa smiled.

"Maybe Cloud will dance some more…" she mused with a smile.


End file.
